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2012 Honda Insight gets a facelift and emits 96g/km

2012 Honda Insight We’re still not convinced that Honda has its heart in the Insight Hybrid, but they have no choice other than to present some semblance of competition to the stranglehold Toyota has developed in the hybrid market. So in an effort to make it more appealing, the unconvincing 2012 Honda Insight gets a bit of a facelift and, perhaps more appealingly for many, a cut in emissions to under the magic 100g/km. Titivations to the Insight for 2012 include a new front grill and bumper – just so existing Insight owners can feel fed up at driving the ‘old’ Insight – and a smaller spoiler and wiper at the back for better visibility.

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.

Toyota to pay $32.4 million U.S. fine over timing of recalls

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed on Monday to pay two more safety fines for a total of $32.4 million, the maximum allowable under U.S. law, to settle federal investigations of whether the company notified regulators of safety defects in timely fashion.